Toy



D. OWEN A ril 30, 1946.

I'OY Filed July 17. 1944 21 fia-Ze awe.

' my 94M Patented Apr. 30, 1946 TOY Dale Owen, Bay City, Mich., assignor to Cappel,

MacDonald & Company, Dayton, Ohio, at partnership Application July 17, 1944, Serial No. 545,221

2 Claims.

This invention relates to toys.

An object of this invention is to provide a toy for childen which may be both amusing and instructive.

Another object of this invention i to provide a toy which will stimulate the imagination of a child in building up or creating numerous figures and designs.

A further object of this invention is to provide a base structure including a base board, a post having a pair of right angularly disposed pins therethrough, and a plurality of differently shaped blocks which are adapted to be mounted upon the post. The positioning of the pins provides an obstacle or puzzle which must be overcome by the child before the blocks can rest upon the base board.

With the above and such other objects in view as may hereinafter more fully appear, I have invented the device shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my toy.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view.

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the following specification, and in the several views in the drawing in which I indicates my improved educational toy, which consists of a base 2 of sufilcient size and weight to prevent accidental overturning. In the center of this base is dowelled an upright post 3 in which is a transverse dowel pin 4 projecting from each side, about one-fourth of an inch, as at 5 and 6, and above the pin 4, and at right angles thereto is another similar pin I.

For assemblage upon the post 3, for the purpose of forming a number of different designs, I provide a group of blocks 8, 9, 10, II and I2, etc., of varying thicknesses, and configurations, and each of which blocks are provided with center bores M, with extension slots l5 and IS in order that the blocks may be manipulated upon the post, it being necessary to aline the said extensions with the projecting dowel pins 4 and 1 before the blocks may be passed to the lower part of said post. In order to do this the child operating the toy must twist and turn the blocks to bring said extensions and pins into alinement.

The blocks may be discal, oval, rectangular, greek, or quadral, cross or other suitable shapes. The cross-shaped block I ll has its terminals l1, l8, etc., which are of a size to fit snugly into any one of the center bores of any other block of the stack in order that it may be used for building various designs.

It is obvious that the above-described toy is primarily adaptable for use of childen of kinder- Sarten age, and, no doubt, the toy will be of great value to teachers in such schools in instilling the art of construction in the minds of small children.

As many different designs may be built up with these blocks the child is also taught the art of creating designs of its own imagination. At first the teacher may show her class illustrations of cer tain designs and require them to form such designs with their blocks.

As an education toy, the handling of the blocks and placin them on the upright post and removing them again, it follows a familia principle of pre-school child training: that of increasing eye and hand co-ordination through repetitive action. The very small child must learn, through practice, to make his hands obey the motor inipulses of his brain, which is stimulated by seeing the blocks and the post, and desiring to combine them or separate them. This toy provides stimulation to such a train of impulses and responses by supplying interestingly shaped and. colored pieces which are pleasing to the sight and touch.

The second advantage of the new toy is its intriguing obstacle feature-the protruding pegs in the post and the necessity of fitting the keyhole slots in the blocks to the pegs so that each block will pass the pegs. This require concentration and ingenuity on the childs part, and overcoming the relatively simple obstacle becomes an achievement. Success in manipulating the toy will give a small child confidence which carries over into many other personal tasks he must face.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a base, a post rising from said base, a pair of vertically spaced apart pins carried by said post, and a plurality of blocks formed with bores to loosely receive said post, said bores being of such size that said pins will hold said blocks against downward movement, said blocks being also formed with recesses extending laterally from said bores whereby upon alignment of said recesses with said pins said blocks may be moved downwardly of said post to engagement with said base.

2. A toy comprising a base, a post rising from said base, a pair of vertically spaced apart pins carried by said post, one of said pins being circumferentially offset with respect to the othe pin, and a plurality of blocks formed with bores to loosely receive said post, said bores being of such size that said plug will hold said blocks against downward movement, said blocks being also formed with recesses extending laterally from said bores whereby upon alignment of said recesses with said pin said blocks may be moved downwardly of said post to engagement with said base.

DALE OWEN. 

